August 07, 2019

US Secretary of Defense warns Turkey against attacking Syria, but Erdogan repeats his threat

Featuring: Nicholas Heras

Source: Kurdistan 24

Journalist: Laurie Mylroie

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper warned Turkey on Tuesday against any cross-border attack into northeastern Syria.

Esper spoke to journalists traveling with him from New Zealand to Japan, as he visited several US allies in the Indo-Pacific region in his first trip there as Secretary of Defense.

Asked about Turkish threats to attack the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Esper replied, “Clearly, we do believe any unilateral action by them would be unacceptable.”

Nonetheless, later on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued yet another bellicose statement, vowing an offensive into northeastern Syria “very soon.”

Read the full article and more in Kurdistan 24.

Author

  • Nicholas Heras

    Former Fellow, Middle East Security Program

    Nicholas A. Heras is a former Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), working in the Middle East Security Program. His work focused on the analysis of complex...